Space Invaders Knit Hat Pattern

It's my birthday! I'm 32 and I'm giving all those geeky internet knitters a little present. :)

Materials: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece – Black Forest (about 2 oz.),

Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece - Perry's Primrose, Blue Paradise, Lime Light, and Buttercream (about .25 oz. each) OR Cotton Ball (about 1 oz.)

16” circular size 4 needles

16” circular size 6 needles

set of 5 - 7” double pointed size 6 needles

Gauge: 6 stitches x 6 rows per inch on size 6 needles

Size: S (20”), M (22”), L (24”) - instructions given as S (M, L)

Instructions:

1) Using size 4 rounds, cast on 120 (132, 144) stitches in black, join in the round.

2) Knit 6 rows in k2, p2 rib

3) Next Round, K all stitches, evenly decreasing 3 (2, 1) stitches across the row – left with 117 (130, 143) stitches. Change to size 6 circular needles

4) Next round, start the pattern chart – 9 (10, 11) repeats.

5) Follow the chart through the purple, blue, and green invaders, stopping after the last green row.

6) Next round (black only)-

Small – k58, k2tog, k57 – 116 stitches left

Medium – k63, k2tog, k63, k2tog – 128 stitches left

Large – k46, k2tog, k45, k2tog, k46, k2tog – 140 stitches left

7) Next round, k3 (2, 0), *ssk, place marker, k2tog, k25 (28, 31)*, repeat * to * three more times.

8) There are now 4 panels contained between markers. Decreases slant away from each marker.

9) Next round, start the first row of the yellow invader chart centered on each panel. Decrease one stitch at each end of each panel, continuing to slant the decreases toward the center invader. (It is helpful to carry the yarn by catching it behind the stitch before the decreases and the stitch after the decreases to prevent show-through.)

10) Continue in this manner, following the chart and decreasing a total of 8 stitches every row. Change to size 6 double pointed needles when necessary.

11) When the invader chart ends, continue in plain black until there are 12 (8, 12) stitches remaining. For size small and large, complete one final row – for each panel, k2tog, slip stitch back to left needle, slip remaining stitch over, 1 stitch remaining on each of 4 needles.

12) All sizes, cut yarn, leaving a 6” tail. Thread yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight. Weave in all ends.

Revolutions and Geometry

Ladybug Hat and Socks

Snow Day!

That patch of bare driveway was left after my poor husband had to go in to work today. One of the perks of being a teacher - snow days! Technically, today is more of an ice day. The valley floor got less than 1/2" but it had been so rainy and it is so cold now that the roads can be rather treacherous. The high today is supposed to be 32. It's currently 27. Getting snow this early in the year is rare for Eugene; I wonder if it's a portent of things to come.

Now we just have one school day before the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm so excited about my day at home to get ready for company on Thursday!

Mushroom Tasting

We went to the annual Mushroom Festival at Mount Pisgah and my enthusiasm got the best of us. We ended up with three different kinds of mushrooms. (In addition to our weekly CSA ration, which is still almost all chanterelles with a few hedgehogs thrown in.)

Lobster Mushrooms

Lion's Mane Mushrooms

Buttercap Mushrooms

For dinner the night after the festival we had a "tasting". I sauteed each type separately in butter with a little bit of salt and garlic powder.

The lion's mane did not live up to its reputation (although I may have just not cooked it long enough). The little tentacle things provided a neat texture though. (I realize calling them tentacles detracts from their allure).

The buttercaps were a surprise treat. They were rich and delicious, rather...buttery? :) I can't seem to find mentions of them anywhere online (including Rain Forest Mushroom Company, who we purchased them from).

We'd heard so many crazy tales that place lobster mushrooms as one of the great delicacies of the natural world that I doubted they could possibly be true. Turns out, they were. Buttery, rich, meaty, tender, flavorful...I don't think I have enough adjectives for them. Eat these mushrooms every chance you get. :)

Our final order, out of the mushrooms we've experimented with are...
1)Lobster
2)Buttercap
3)Chanterelle
4)Lion's Mane

We got more chanterelles in our veggie box when we went and harvested our turkey today so it's a good thing we're mushroom fans. I'll have to post pictures when the turkey is cooked. We helped the farmer process 15 turkeys and we bought the second largest one, a beautiful 24 pound, biodynamically raised bird. Mmmmm...

Hello World!

Wow! We've been busy. The last few weekends have all been completely full with commitments and we've had little time to relax long enough for me to have the energy to post. I'm hoping to get the "Great Mushroom Taste Test" and "My First Metalsmithing/Glassblowing Experiment" up this weekend.

Jenna at Cold Antler Farm posted a link to Victorian Farm on Youtube a few days ago. I really loved this show although it's a little sad to see how Victorian times were the start of modern farm practices that have evolved into the unhealthy industrial system of today. Warning, if you start watching it might be difficult to stop. :)

Q posted a couple of pictures of the bedside tables we are making. We need to sand everything down, finish making the drawers, glue them together and finish them with oil. So close and yet so far away. I was hoping by Thanksgiving. Christmas is probably more realistic.

We got our yearly leaf delivery so we've got most of the beds tucked in for the winter. We still have a couple yards of leaves left in the driveway though. Maybe onto the strawberry bed?


The measly squash harvest, collected before I ripped out the vines and covered the bed with leaves. This cool, wet summer really did in almost all of our crops. The celery stalks are small but still do the job so I've left the plants out there. I left the yellow squash and zucchini since they both still have fruit that might get a little bigger if the weather holds. Although this is unlikely...snow is forecast on the valley floor for Sunday night!

Broken Cookies!

I got assigned to make 120 cookies for the school's Halloween festival. The 7th grade teacher (a baker in a former life) was responsible for finding the recipe and then each of the three middle school classes were assigned 120 cookies for a total of 360. It's a great recipe and they end up soft and almost cake-like. I don't know where it came from but here it is...

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies (makes 30 large cookies)

Cookies:
Mix together in a bowl and set aside:

• 5 c. flour
• 2 t. baking soda
• 2 t. baking powder
• 2 t. ground cinnamon
• 1 t. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 t. ground allspice
• 1/4 t. ground cloves
  
• 1 t. salt

Cream together with a mixer until fluffy:

• 3 c. sugar
• 1 c. (2 sticks) butter, softened

Mix in:

• 2 eggs
• 15 oz. pumpkin puree
• 2 t. vanilla

Add the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly incorporated. Measure out 1/4 cups of dough onto a greased cookie sheet and gently shape and flatten with damp hands to make 1/2" thick disks. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 8 minutes, rotate pans, bake 8 minutes more. Remove from oven and cool.

When the cookies are cool, drizzle glaze (see below) over them and allow it to set.

Glaze:
2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. melted butter
3 T. milk
1/2 t. vanilla


I started the cookies at school on Friday and gave my class some as a Halloween treat. I brought the rest home to add to what I was making Saturday morning. When I unpacked them I was irritated to learn that I had packed some up while they were still slightly warm and they had fused together. I had to make an additional batch, but what to do with pieces from about 8 large broken cookies?

And so Pumpkin Spice Tiramisu was born!

We used this recipe and replaced the ladyfingers with cookie pieces. The only other change was sprinkling the top with cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg instead of cocoa powder. We had dinner guests last night and it was delicious then. It was even more delicious this afternoon after the flavors had more time to blend.

Now it began feeling like some nonsense children's story. In using up the broken cookies (and solving what to serve for dessert at our dinner party) we had created 6 egg whites that currently had no use. Back to the internet and...

Meringue ghosts finished up the baking triathlon!
One of my students at the party I took them to pointed out that my devil meringue...
doubled as a Dracula meringue..
Although he looks a bit like Cthulhu in this picture.

I should have whipped the meringue even more because the first few had good body but then they got a little droopy. The eyes were some Halloween bat shaped sprinkles from the bulk foods section of the grocery store. There was enough meringue left over after making the pan of ghosts that I spread the rest out flat and made a pavlova-like crust. Add some vanilla yogurt and defrost some strawberries and it's a pretty good treat in and of itself. (Not as cute as the ghosts though.)